Charleston

It is, in a word, charming.

Walker and I spent a long weekend in this beautiful and unique city. It was the first visit for both of us, and we had the best time.

A good time for us typically involves eating delicious food, and oh man is Charleston the place for amazing dining. We had fantastic weather, and loved walking around downtown looking at all of the beautiful buildings.

Battery Row is beautiful. Don't you wish your bedroom opened to this balcony and hammock and this was your 100% unobstructed view of Charleston Harbor? 

Secondary to the fact that we are about 3/4 through with our 1/2 marathon training, we thought we were in good enough shape to incorporate the Cooper River Bridge as part of our long weekend run.

The run across and back is about 5 miles. We certainly underestimated the long incline that we would have to run twice. Granted, we had run a couple of miles before we actually got to the bridge, but YIKES. As Walker so adequately summarized, Charleston 1, Fain's 0. The view from the bridge was quite beautiful, although I would have certainly enjoyed it much more on a leisurely walk.

Sunday afternoon we drove to a couple of the barrier islands just outside Charleston (15 minutes from downtown, doesn't get much better than that!).

More charm. Any Pat Conroy fans out there? Charleston and its islands are precisely as peaceful and charming as I imagined them to be from his books.

As a Gulf Coast girl, I'll be the first to say that the beaches of the Atlantic have nothing on the Florida panhandle, but what they lack in bleached white sand and crystal water they make up for in sheer volume.

Thanks Charleston, you were certainly good to us!